VISUAL REPORTS

They will meet your guests with a smile, park your car, and take your children to school. Meet Ukraine’s State Security guards, who provide private services to Ukraine’s officials on the state’s dime. (Production of Schemes, Ukrainian Service. Over 832k views on Current Time TV Facebook)

Respondents to an informal poll on the streets of Moscow said overwhelmingly they consider Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a peacekeeper. One respondent said that Putin thinks every night about how to “make his country better” and “make other countries better as well.” One said that “every confrontation with the West is welcome.” Only one respondent answered the question negatively, saying, “we are at war.” (Russian Service)

OTHER NEWS

President Vladimir Putin threatened a potential new arms race, accusing Washington of wanting out of a key Cold War treaty, and warned of new restrictions on U.S. media if American officials pressure Russian outlets.

Ksenia Sobchak’s announcement this week of her candidacy for Russia’s top office has injected some intrigue into the presidential race, and prompted accusations that the Kremlin is resorting to old tricks to add a veneer of legitimacy to the ballot.

Maksim Drozdov, a poet from Russia’s southern region of Krasnodar, is being investigated in what is thought to be the first criminal case opened by Russian police into allegations of insulting the feelings of atheists.

Local environmentalists won a small victory on September 27, when the World Bank froze its tender process for a Mongolian project to construct a hydroelectric station on the Selenga River, the main inlet source for the massive lake.

The Russian Federation’s draft 2018-2019 budget envisions cuts for the North Caucasus amounting to approximately 111 million rubles, or $1.9 million, in comparison to the current year. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, whose republic depends overwhelmingly on Federal funds, had requested a budget increase to support Chechnya’s rising birth rate. (Caucasus Realities website)

Ukrainian Naval Forces are practicing “wolf pack” tactics in the Black Sea, according to which a group of light boats, deployed from different directions, attack a more powerful enemy. The tactic is seen by Ukrainian commanders as enabling an effective response to Russian aggression. (Ukrainian Service)

The World Bank reports that the proportion of the population living below the poverty line in Belarus has fallen sharply from 41.9 percent in 2000 to 5.7 percent in 2016, partly in response to reduced energy prices from Russia and the economic growth of Belarus’s trading partners. (Belarus Service)